I mean, you could call it strategic, or you could call it relying on substances as a crutch to manage your emotions.

I’m not saying that’s always bad, necessarily. There is the school of thought that it’s just a tool, like in your edit. But, it is important to remember it can become a habit.

These days i rarely drink but a glass of wine with some pasta now and again goes down a treat

I do, but the other way as I’m getting old and can’t down them like I used to. Met up with a mate to watch the F1 in the pub garden on a sunny Sunday, just had a couple of halves as I still wanted to try a number of new drops

Though I completely understand using alcohol to loosen up a bit, for numerous social situations. Definitely used it more that way in my younger days, to varying degrees of success

Using alcohol as a method to resolve personal problems can be a very dark path. Please be careful.

I’ve been doing “tipsy chore day” for a while. Do a chore > glass of wine > do another chore > glass of wine… I may as well finish the bottle > do a chore > final glass.

Chores are less boring, and you push through them to get your next glass. Has to be wine though, beer I don’t get a buzz going, and spirits have me incompetent.

Sure, but I was also an alcoholic. Very high functioning, but still at the end 100% dependant on it.

The slope is so treacherously flat, you don’t feel yourself slipping. I still have no idea how I ended up where I did, or for that matter how I ended up actually managing to quit.

I’m sure some people can use liquid courage without it turning into depending on it to do the hard things, then more and more things turning hard and needing a boost to do it, or can wash away work with a drink at the end of the week, without having to wash it away at the end of every day, and then having a quick rinse-and-reset at lunch, and so on… But it’s impossible to know which one you are until it’s too late.

Yes, my strategy is I don’t drink and in turn I don’t get hangovers

Anxiety is necessary sometimes. It’s fine to be anxious and it’s ok to be uncomfortable. You are having trouble managing your anxiety seek a therapist. Alcohol will trick you into thinking it’s a solution. Be careful, this is very similar to how my alcoholism and my fathers started.

I bought a pocket breathalyzer so I can be right in the pocket

As a general policy I don’t drink alcohol if I feel I need a drink.

Uncomfortable? I’d prefer caffeine for that.

Alcohol might compel me to say something I’d regret.

I like to have a drink but hard NO to doing it before anything important. I strongly prefer to feel clear headed for those moments.

Yes, I barely if ever drink alcohol. I’m not social and hate talking to people or crowds, I’m also pretty ND so I can’t fake or pretend I give a shit about what other people are talking.

Alcohol helps a lot, if I have to meet whoever and their friends and they’re asking me about work or how I would design an app that does blah blah I definitely need to be like 4 beers in to tolerate that conversation.

That being said I don’t drink for things like school presentations or other events that require me to speak, like conference stuff. I just bite the bullet and it sucks, but I’d rather be sober and speaking coherently than feeling like I am.

My baseline circadian rhythm doesn’t let me get sleepy until the sun starts coming up. In a bygone era, I would’ve been the guy tending the fire and watching over the camp until the early birds got up. In the modern era, night shift jobs are generally terrible. I strategically drink to fall asleep at a somewhat reasonable hour, so I can participate in modern society.

Lots of people warning you about alcoholism. Idk. I drink coffee strategically every day, and that’s a drug. But also yes, I sometimes drink alcohol strategically. If I know I’m going to hang out with my sister who I love but disagree with on many many things, i have a drink or two. I try to dull my brain just enough that I am too slow to get offended at every single thing (or just don’t care to, maybe?) in the end, we have a great time, I don’t get all debate-ey with her, and instead just appreciate the good things about her. We don’t see each other that often so I genuinely don’t see any danger from this coping mechanism.